1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control element for a near-field interaction between particles.
2. Description of the Related Art
Information transfer means have sequentially adopted light as a medium starting with long-distance communication. The prevalence of optical communication has shifted from infrastructures to fiber to the home (FTTH). Optical information communication is expected to be sequentially adopted for inter-device applications, inter-board applications, inter-chip applications, and intra-chip applications in the future. However, it is difficult to confine light in an area with a size equal to or smaller than its wavelength because of diffraction limit. Thus, a special technique is required to form an optical element between chips or in a chip.
Known techniques for controlling light in a very small area use near fields (micro-dot arry), plasmons (JP-A 2003-207667 (KOKAI)), or excitons (JP-A 2004-157326 (KOKAI)).
Development of nanophotonics functional elements has just been started, and a large number of near-field functional elements need to be researched and developed. Of particular concern is the control of a near-field interaction as well as a variation in a dielectric constant (the dielectric constant in the frequency range of light, i.e., refractive index) of a micro-substance which causes an interaction to excite a near-field. However, no conventional techniques can significantly control the dielectric constant, and various techniques are expected to be developed.